The end?
by GhostlyOne
Summary: Isn't this supposed to be the end after the defeat of Voldemort but then why is Harry the outcast of the school and what big secret is he hiding?
1. Secrets

The sole person in the room woke up to a jarring headache and the low murmur of voices right outside the divide of curtains, all of a sudden a loud beeping echoed throughout the room and a rush of feet signaled the arrival of the boy's doctors.

Groaning the figure tried to rise up off the bed to examine his surroundings, but he was very weak and a voice warned, "Lie back down you'll do more damage to yourself if you try and get up." Scrubbing at his eyes the boy tried to focus in on the other figure which had remained quiet, as he came closer to the bed the boy saw at once who it was, "Oh its you".

The figure visibly flinched at the simple statement coming out of the boy's mouth, in a trembling voice he asked, "Do you really hate me that much, and that you do not even wish to see me?"

The boy stared at the ceiling for a bit before he replied, "I only dealt with you because I had to with my life being the way it was and is. Again and again you have ruined my life to the point that I don't even want to live anymore and you come in and ask me if I really hate you to this great extent that I can even understand why you have made the enemies that you did?"

The figure settled in a nearby chair, "I have no idea what to say of do to you to regain your trust and respect again, I know I have made some questionable decisions that I have come to regret but isn't there some way to make it up to you?"

The boy shifted answered. "Every single promise you have ever made to me was broken, every single time you thought you were doing something for my own good ended up hurting me more than any other normal person can stand; you know I never expected to live through the night I fully expected to die with him, I mean if I was dead then I wouldn't have to deal with everything that life has to offer, I am barely of age and already I have seen and experienced more than most people have in their entire lifetime, so do as you wish I just want some place to rest and not be bothered at least till school is done."

The figure had started to cry silently as the boy's monologue revealed past hurts that he could have stopped at any time but he hadn't and didn't because it was supposedly for the good of the world. Wiping his face carefully and clearing his throat he said, "At least you will stay here in school until you graduate as for the press we will not alert them till all his followers have been disposed of. They have no idea that their leader is no more and they would not be willing to do anything without their leader's backing but won't go out to find him if they aren't called for a while."

The boy said, "In other words you don't want me to say anything to anyone about what happened, at least till you see fit a time to release that information or as you say till all of his followers have been disposed of, which I would think will be at the end of school year where I would be able to graduate on time seeing as I know the entire curriculum anyways right?"

The figure nodded, "Yes it will be for the best so the students won't panic or cause too big a scene to alert the followers that we are indeed after them, as for now our best tool we have at our disposal is the lack of information and communication between them."

A woman whom was in the room previously walked back holding a stack of papers addressed the boy who had looked up at the sudden arrival of the woman, "I have some very grave news for you."

The boy just nodded and gestured for her to go on. The woman said, "From the results that I got back from the scans of your body and other such tests the amount of damage that was inflicted on your body has overloaded your body, even as of right now your body is being torn inside out from all the internal damage at most I would say you will live to see your graduation but not much more than that. And even that will be a stretch seeing as in those last few weeks your body will basically be collapsing in on itself. There are a few potions to help but nothing completely relieves the pain."

The boy gave a mirthless laugh that scared the figure seated and the woman, "Why am I not surprised? No I couldn't go out peacefully and with the least amount of pain but rather I need to die in the most excruciating way possible with my body being torn apart from the inside out and ending with my body collapsing on itself. No potions can truly help with this condition so drawing my life out will be the worse way to die."

The figure cut in, "I'm sorry to tell you this but you cannot stay in the Hospital Wing for the amount of time you need to fully recover because we do not want to alert anyone of anything amiss so you will need to return here from time to time to engage in therapy for your full recuperation."

The boy replied, "See yet again you do this, do you never learn or do you enjoy seeing me in so much pain, whatever decide what you want to do and tell me the final plans but right now I do not wish to speak or see you Headmaster Dumbledore." With that he closed his eyes and gave off the impression of sleep.

The figure got up and walked out the Hospital Wing only turning back at the doorway to say, "Goodbye Harry and thank you for what you did even if you do not acknowledge it."


	2. Outcast

About three days had past and finally Harry could just about manage to get around without too much problem with pain relieving potions and the illusion charm he could possibly look like he was normal though the disguise wouldn't stand through too much inspection, though he was counting on no one noticing enough about him to be able to pass it off as one thing of another.

Sitting back to apply the last of the bandages on his chest he waited for the pain potions to start and start to relax slightly as they took off the edge of the pain. Madam Pomphrey bustled toward him with her wand in hand, but the first thing she did was to check all his bandages to place additional charms n spells to safeguard against practically everything.

"A note of warning, Mr. Potter, just because you look as though you can do anything you want it's just an illusion and you are no better than a very small child so I do not expect to see you until our next appointment."

With that all being said she waved her wand all over his body and when Harry looked down he looked as good as new but he wasn't fooled with all the aches and pains that the potions hadn't managed to relieve. Madam Pomphrey handed him a bag filled with potions and said, "They are all labeled as to what they are and how many doses of each and there is a list of instructions for your entire schedule that should tide you over till you have to come back here next Friday night at eight."

Harry nodded before he slid off the bed and very gingerly stepped on the floor, managing to do that he began the lengthy walk to the Gryffindor Common Room with a slightly pronounced limp. He got to the Tower before whispering the password and stepping in the Common Room where everyone shut up and stared at him when he walked the distance between the doorway to the boy's dormitory stairs.

He walked there with everyone's eyes on him filled with hate, fear, or pity; he had burned his bridges with the majority of the school population before he left going after the one person who had practically everyone's respect and the one person who he cared about most in the world and because he had loved her so much and would be willing to do so much for her that he had to tear himself away from her and make her hate him and along with the rest of the school population.

There would be no problem in keeping this situation and his condition a secret because he was an outcast in the school and the one person who might have known or figured out that something was wrong with him hated him and every single thing in any relation whatsoever to him.

When he got to the seventh year boys dormitory he pushed the door open; heading for his bed he carefully opened his trunk. He placed his bag of potions in the trunk and was about to close it when he noticed a black bag filled with splinters, with a sinking feeling he had an idea what it was and when he poured the splinters out his suspicions were confirmed, someone or some people had broken into his trunk and destroyed one of his most treasured possessions.

A grim smile stretched across his face, what was the point of being upset, soon he'll be gone and all these material possessions will mean nothing because he will finally be with the actual people and for once he won't be the one left behind with only memories as his only solace.

Suddenly a stab of white-hot pain stabbed through his body, he had to sit back against the bed to avoid causing anymore damage to himself. Carefully so that he wouldn't jostle anything and cause himself any unnecessary pain he picked out a potion from the bag that would relieve him of his pain. Uncorking it he grimaced at the smell and then poured it all down his throat.

Almost immediately he felt the pain lessen to a slight ache he had gotten used to, glancing at the clock he swore it was time for Potions. Grabbing his supplies he walked as fast as he could toward the dungeons.

Harry made it there well after the late bell had rung, the Professor glanced up at the intrusions and simply said, "Take a seat Potter and don't let it happen again." Harry was shocked never had Professor Snape of all people, not taken the chance to take points away from him. Then shrugging he walked over to the only empty seat left in the room right at the front near the door.

As he settled down and got his supplies out as quietly as he could he came to the conclusion that Snape had been told of the defeat seeing as he was a spy and would probably be running interference. His musings were interrupted by the Snape asking him, "Potter with the Deragnus Potion what you would have to add in order to neutralize the acidity of the brewer's hazel?"

Harry replied, "Since only a basic substance neutralizes the acidity of the brewer's hazel then I would say you can add a bit of crystallized ambixtous which can be substituted for a number of other basic elements; which is why this potion is fairly popular to heal most wounds especially in wartime where materials are often in short supply."

The Professor nodded before continuing on with lesson apparently satisfied with his answer, for the entirety of the period he didn't pick on Harry again, so there were no hot disputes as the nature of the subtraction of points at least between these two.

It was the same for the rest of his classes as well, there seemed to be a general consensus that he knew all the material already seeing as he had to go through a rush course to then begin training at the Auror Academy. All the teachers at least knew the truth which was also why most did not bother beyond a question or two to see if he really was there or not.

Though the classes were dealt with there was also the fact that he was the school outcast and his not wanting to be the center of attention brought home to the fact that the library was the best place to be in order to be alone and anonymous. Every free period or lunch period he had, he would hide out in the stacks furthest away from any kind of human contact. Then every Friday he would go to Madam Pomphrey to perform the charm and to refill on potions.

The maneuvering worked for about a month then people began to notice something was off, the teachers noted that they never saw him outside classes anymore, not at the Quidditch matches, Hogsmeade visits, or even loitering around the school with friends at all the hours of the day. One student in particular, the one that he didn't want noticing anything off, noted the oddities about his behavior, seeing as it was habit to make sure of his well-being especially when he didn't care that much about himself anyways.

She watched him in the classes they had together, which was practically all of them; at the library she would take a seat as close as she could to him without piquing his suspicion; the random and rare times that she caught him in the Great Hall for a quick meal before he vanished again to the depths of the library. She saw his limp, which was counteracted by his seemingly healthy body, the slight tremor in his hands at certain times of the day and the random amount of potions he seemed to take everyday at different intervals of time.

She knew there was something wrong with him, but she couldn't outright approach him and ask him what was wrong, for she was part of the reason why he was an outcast; but also because he didn't speak to anyone outside classes that she was convinced he had forgotten how to speak. Then finally one night during her patrols she spied him heading out of the Gryffindor Common Room; she was about to tell him to get back inside when he apparently saw her and flashed his note at her and walked off.

Seeing as she wasn't going to get anything from him, she disillusioned herself and followed him through the school, not to Dumbledore's office as she thought at first but toward the Hospital Wing. She watched as he knocked on the door to the Wing, which was answered by Madam Pomphrey, "Mr. Potter what are you doing here now? It's not Friday yet." He only nodded weakly and pointed to a small bag covered in stains. Mdm. Pomphrey took one look at the bag then back at him before gesturing for him to get in the room; she managed to slip inside just as she closed and locked the door.

Once inside she chose a vantage point that was far away enough so that she wouldn't be in the way for detection but close enough so that she was able to see what was going on with Harry.

Mdm. Pomphrey bustled around setting out different tools and placed some unmarked potions on a nearby table, all the while she asked Harry questions, "So, Harry why did you come here today? You don't have an appointment for about another few days; did you run out of potions? Or, is the pain too unbearable for you to deal with? Are your wounds leaking?"

Harry shook his head, "No, Mdm. Pomphrey I came here today to get replacements for my potions because my trunk was broken into when I was in class, and the potions were spilled and their bottles broken. I have waited till I was finished with my classes so no one will notice anything is amiss, I think my wounds have been leaking but I have mostly succeeded in hiding it, can you fix it for me?"

Mdm. Pomphrey said, "If what you say is true I will have to take off the charm to check out everything, though it will be somewhat painful for you…" Harry smirked, "How will that be different from every day of my life as it is now? Just take the damn thing off and do what you like."

She nodded and tapped her wand twice on his left knee, waved it counterclockwise over him, and muttered a string of Latin words before giving Harry a bright red potion. With that done the disguise slowly dripped off him. Before she could stop herself, she gasped at the sight before her.


	3. Confrontation

She couldn't believe her eyes, how was it possible to hide or cover this up? What happened to him, to cause him to look like this? Harry was covered in lacerations across his body and face, his arms were covered in bruises and burns while his legs were so beaten and battered that you could barely make out any skin where there wasn't any damage to the body. To top it all off tremors continually racked through his body as though under a sustained Cruciatus.

Neither Harry nor Mdm. Pomphrey seemed to have heard the gasp that issued from her mouth; Mdm. Pomphrey addressed Harry's wounds which were indeed leaking at a furious rate causing a puddle of blood to form around them, like a little island that was slowly spreading.

Every once in a while Harry would grimace at a particularly bad tremor wrecked through him, but it was gone within a split second of its occurrence. When Mdm. Pomphrey had finished addressing his wounds she renewed his disguise charm, handed him a bag of replenished potions and a cane and simply said, "I'll see you on Friday Mr. Potter." Then she turned and made for the door which she opened a crack to allow him exit, to which he hobbled toward after giving her a nod of his thanks.

As soon as Harry left she quickly closed and locked the door, which surprised the girl out of her reverie seeing as she had forgotten that she had to follow Harry out the door in order to make it back to her Common Room.

Mdm. Pomphrey turned to the seemingly empty room and said, "You can come out now he's gone." The girl ended the charm and walked toward Mdm. Pomphrey head before bombarding her with questions as was her habit concerning Harry, 'What's wrong with him, how did he get like this, what happened, and why don't you fix him up like you usually do?" She merely shook her head and said, "That's not my story to tell, but the one thing I can tell you is that he had to recently make a hard choice in choosing between his life and someone else's"

She waved at the door which unlocked by silent command and the girl walked out, but not before she heard Mdm. Pomphrey mutter, "That girl is both Mr. Potter's greatest strength as well as his greatest weakness", head bowed deep in thought, heading toward the Gryffindor Tower for sleep to ease her mind as well as quiet to being formulating a plan about what to do now that she had more information about what was going on with Harry, so engrossed was she in what she was thinking that she almost slammed straight into the person in mind.

The two stared at each other for a second or two till Harry got up and pulled her to her feet, "Sorry about that…"

"There you are Hermione I was looking all over for you, don't you remember you were supposed to meet me after your rounds in front of the Prefect's office?" the boy looked at her questionably, with his red hair askew and his blue eyes filled with worry.

"Sorry Ron I was held up by Mdm. Pomphrey who needed to ask me something about visiting hours." She turned to Harry but found him halfway down the hall with his back hunched from the effort it took to walk as normally and fast as possible. Looking over at Ron she found his face twisted into one of pure malice before turning back to her and smiling, "Now shall I escort you back to our Common Room madam?"

Hermione grinned at him and allowed him to take her by the hand and lead her back to the Common Room, with her head running a mile a minute about the occurrences that night, as they followed at a fair distance behind Harry.

Nearly tripping over a loose trinket dropped from some girl's bag almost caused Harry to lose his carefully maintained balance, though he was aware of her walking with his other former best friend. But since he had no claim on her anymore, and considering what he had done to her the last time they met he was certain she would never forgive him. Not that he really could do anything anymore since he wasn't going to be here for much longer.

The Portrait door came into view and he hurriedly stumbled toward it, almost falling in his haste to get his dorm where he would be able to lay down and give his body some relief from the racking pain he felt every single moment of every single day of his godforsaken life.

Maneuvering up the stairs he felt someone's eyes on him, so when he surreptitiously turned he saw her unreadable eyes staring at him, along with his eyes which as usual looked at him with hatred and malice. Finally arriving at the dormitory he groped through his bag for a pain-killer potion; upon retrieving and consuming it he was finally able to relax and slip into a fitful sleep filled with terror-infested demons that often plagued him in his sleep and never allowed him to sleep comfortably throughout the entire night.

The next day Harry was awaken by the loud crack of thunder that echoed throughout the castle; rising out of his bed he picked out another potion to fight off the tremors that were beginning to spark in his leg. After getting dressed he grabbed his bag that he had filled with all the essentials that he might need for the day including some extra items to ward against any pranks that the other students might want to put him through.

Walking downstairs he steeled himself once again for the stares, stares from the students that ranged from hatred to the rare occasion of pity or sympathy. He was used to it, seeing as it had been awhile since his return to school after defeating Voldemort. A sardonic smile crossed his face as he thought, "What difference did I expect from the wizarding world now that I've defeated Voldemort, but then again society as a whole is generally rather close-minded about the anything that poses a threat to the social standing of certain people."

He should have paid more attention to where he was going because he was forcibly removed from his thoughts by a fist plowing through his stomach, which winded him and left his gasping on the floor. His cane was thrown away so he could barely stand correctly but his instincts honed from years of abuse at the hands of the Dursleys', he got back to his feet swaying slightly as he pushed all the pain he felt to the back corner of his mind.

The next time a punch came at him, he caught it and twisted it and threw the person over his back. His instincts told him to duck as a red spell soared right over where his head had been a few seconds ago. Grasping his wand he threw a wordless spell at his attacker which caught his foot and hung him upside down; however as he was concentrating on the spell he didn't notice the chair flying at his head until it made contact with his head, and he fell unconscious as his wounds pooled blood around his head.

Harry's attackers and the mob that had gathered to watch the fight began to walk away when they all froze as a feared voice echoed, "WHO DARES TO ATTACK A FELLOW STUDENT IN THIS SCHOOL, AND WITH ALL THE WITNESSESS HERE NO ONE HAS EVEN THOUGHT TO FIND HELP FOR THE STUDENT WHILE HE LAYS THERE BLEEDING TO DEATH, EVERYONE WHO WAS INVOLVED HERE IN SOME WAY WILL BE SERVING DETENTION FOR THE REST OF THE TIME YOU HAVE HERE AT HOGWARTS."


	4. Punishment

There standing at the end of the corridor, flanked by teachers and students alike, stood a figure blazing with so much power that it was blinding to look directly at him. As he drew nearer and looked each student in the eye they flinched from the coldness directed toward them, usually reserved for those he hated.

Arriving at the middle of the corridor he waved his hand and a black sign appeared above each person's head. In a deceptively calm voice that was only belied by the fury on his face he explained the situation.

"In all my years of teaching here I have never seen students act the way any of you have acted tonight. Even those who had no part in the actual fight contributed, you stood around watching passively and did not intervene, even when it was clear that Harry was injured very badly and needed medical attention. This is a time of war, with the battle to determine the fate of the world raging right outside our doorsteps and you choose now to have this cowardly fight; this fight where one person gets brutally attacked by not just one person, but five different people, of whom he had once called friends."

Glancing at each student he noted the guilt on the faces, "Good at least they can still show some remorse for what they did," he thought to himself. Turning around to face everyone, he was a formidable sight with the ice in his blue eyes and fury directed at each one of them. He continued this time to explain the marks.

"Now I'm sure your all wondering what that black mark that I've placed above your heads is, well, first and foremost it is to isolate each and everyone of you from the rest of your peers, in other words you will not be able to communicate with anyone other than myself or the other professors. Second it is part of you punishment as it inflicts some form of physical, emotional and mental pain for the amount of suffering that you have caused Harry. Lastly, it subjects you to the ridicule you are sure to be facing for the rest of your time here at Hogwarts. However that is not your only punishment, for the rest of your time here you are at the beck and call of each and every whim of me, the professors, the caretaker, the Head Boy and Girl, as well as the prefects. None of you will be able to remain as prefects or to ever obtain the position of a prefect or a Head Boy or Girl; also you will not be able to gain any points for your house, only lose them; finally your last bit of punishment will be a particular bit of magic placed on all your clothing which identifies you as the type of person who would do such a thing."

He gave them a sneer and stalked off towards the Hospital Wing, where Harry had been immediately sent after discovery of his wounds, leaving the professors to lead all the students back to their respective dormitories and lock them in, so they could go to the Hospital Wing to see if they may be of any assistance.

At the Hospital Wing Madam Pomphrey was bustling around and giving orders to the professors to bring particular charms, potions, or a bit of magic meant for healing. All the professors looked on worriedly not just because he was the Savior of the World but rather a boy they had gotten to know rather well in the times of preparation to fulfill his destiny.

Finally about three hours later she stopped and exclaimed, "I've done all I can do, seeing as his condition is now stable, even though he is still unconscious and has fallen into a coma, it seems as though his magic is healing him so there is nothing else we can do except to wait."

She collapsed on a chair that Dumbledore conjured up for her, anticipating her weakened state; he addressed the faculty with his calm demeanor restored and his fury contained once again.

"You all heard what the woman said, there is no use for us to stay here, and so we might as well go back to our quarters and drop by once in a while to see how things are going so we do not overcrowd the Wing. Also I am giving you permission to devise whatever punishment you choose to administer to those who have contributed to this incident, we shall all contribute to the punishment for the worst offenders."

The professors glanced at each other and then at Dumbledore before they grinned at each other wickedly, as they devised the worst possible punishments that came across their mind; as if on cue everyone glanced at Professor Snape, who grinned evilly at the thought of being given free reign to punish the Gryffindors as he wished for so many times.

The gaggle of professors all trooped to one of the interior workshops after Dumbledore had given the command to lock down the entire castle, though food would still be served by the house elves at the appropriate times direct to the Common Room; as well as regular assignments from the different teachers.

After about a week of so had passed they had devised a list of the most horrible, embarrassing, and peculiar punishments they could possibly devise for the students involved they rested as they could hardly wait for the next time they saw the students.

They needed to be able to do something to help the boy who had done so much for them and the world no matter how oblivious it was to have taken advantage of the boy like so.


	5. Interrogations

One of the first orders of business was to make life as miserable and humiliating as possible for the five culprits, and leave the rest paranoid as though expectant they would be next in the plan for their punishment at the hands of their fellow classmates and professors.

A simple letter was sent out to obtain the help of some of the best jokesters Hogwarts had ever seen since the days of the Marauders, it was composed by a joint effort on behalf of all the teachers though only Dumbledore signed it. It read:

Dear Fred and George Weasley,

I am in need of a break from all the seriousness and the horrors that are being inflicted outside the castle walls. But alas this year since you two have not returned to Hogwarts there are no pranksters devious enough to make me able to sustain more than a slight smile. Although I cannot force you to come back to school perhaps you can drop by with your everlasting bag of tricks to entertain the castle once again against a select group of students who need some livening up?

Albus Dumbledore

PS Please send your reply ASAP for we are in dire need of your services.

The professors smirked at one another when the answer was received and in their favor, and now to prepare for their special guests' arrival and to make sure their accommodations were to their liking it was filled with all sorts of paraphernalia the professors deemed necessary for this venture.

Oh, how sweet revenge can be insert cackling 

No one knew what to do or say after the scathing rant that the professor had left them with, so they all filed back to their respective common rooms to head to bed and also so they wouldn't have to talk to anyone or explain to anyone what was going on.

The group walked silently back to their Common Room, each person deep in thought about the day's happenings; upon arrival they found that the Portrait wouldn't open for them even though they had the correct password. When they asked the Fat Lady what was going on she simply said, "You aren't Gryffindors, they are honorable and noble, and you do not possess those traits, so I will not open the door."

They didn't think that the repercussions of this act would draw forth to such extents as to their own Common Room's refusal to acknowledge them as Gryffindors, one by one all the students turned to glare the attackers with hatred in their eyes to have drawn them into such a situation.

"Why is everyone standing out here and blocking the corridor in front of the Common Room?" said a familiar voice. As everyone's head turned they practically cheered in relief, it was the Head Girl. A girl stepped forward, "Hermione you have to help us, the Portrait refuses to open for us because it says we aren't Gryffindors, help us get into the Common Room please."

Hermione glanced at the students grouped before her and swept her eyes above their heads at the marks floating there; she turned and murmured the password, before stepping inside. The Gryffindors gratefully stepped inside after her, but instead of the comfy Common Room as they expected there was a room filled with chairs that had names on it and Hermione was sitting at the front of the room watching their progress.

Once everyone had settled she stood and waved her wand across the room and muttered a string of Latin words; she began to speak, "I know you all are wondering why I brought you here. The reason is this; about an hour ago five people attacked Harry James Potter, fellow Gryffindor, with a hallway full of eyewitnesses, none of whom did anything to stop the attack. When the subject was beaten to unconsciousness, everyone was about to leave the helpless student there, bleeding from his many wounds, fortunately they were stopped and punished accordingly. Now upon arrival to their respective Common Rooms they would find that their Tower no longer recognized them as one of their own and were trapped outside their own Common Room."

She took a deep breath before she continued in a deceptively mild voice, "Now can anyone explain to my why, why Gryffindor House of all places would be the leader in such a hellish attack that has left said student unconscious and in a coma? Tell me is it not that Gryffindor House is valued for its courageousness and bravery? So why it is that such a thing has happened?"

There was silence throughout the room as everyone tried to look away from the piercing glare of their Head Girl, she smirked and snapped, "Lavender, would you care to explain to me, what is going on?"

As the spell started to take effect Lavender was forced to tell the whole story, no matter how much she wanted to be able to stop herself she couldn't.

"He pointing at one of the attackers suggested that we ambush Potter and teach him a lesson for all the stuff he put us through, like the frequent attacks from Voldemort and the other horrors that have been inflicted on us since he became a student here. Not all of us were directly involved in the attack, but most of us in Gryffindor coordinated it so that we could trap him in an isolated hallway, keep him from running, throwing various charms and spells at him, which would give him a handicap, and doing the best we could to run interference with the professors. The rest of students helped somewhat but they were only supposed to give the rest of us an alibi, like perhaps a DA meeting or whatnot, but mostly it was a school wide effort to carry out this plan that he points to same attacker suggested."

A long deadly, drawn out silence followed as Hermione absorbed this information, she scribbled some notes down and finally glancing toward the center of the room to where the attackers sat she said, "Now that we have the story from someone on the outside we should hear it from someone on the inside, Seamus Finnigan, although you were not the mastermind behind this plan, you played a big part in instigating the fight. How would you feel if Harry, who is currently lying unconscious in the Hospital Wing, were to die?


	6. Now what happens?

At the looks of guilt on the faces of a majority of the students, no one had seriously considered that possibility; although she couldn't fault them to the fullest extent seeing as they didn't know the whole story, but here was her chance to make her point and actually get people to listen.

"Harry James Potter, a former fellow student, friend, or brother to a majority of the school. To the rest of the world he was the Chosen One, the only person with the power to go up against Voldemort so that the rest of us could sit at home content in knowing that their problems were being solved by someone else. He has spent a majority of his life being praised or loathed by the world.

But the only thing has remained constant throughout all his trials, which was the fact that there would always be a group of people who didn't care that he was Harry Potter, but they saw him as Harry a fellow student going through the motions of school life alongside them. As it is his home life was terrible, seeing as for the first ten years of his life he was treated as a slave, but now he is basically treated as someone to be avoided like the plague and on the occasions that they do come in contact with him, he is ordered around like their own personal slave.

Hogwarts was his home, where he could find a place for himself and fit in with a group of people who didn't hate his guts; but all that came to a stop a few short hours ago, people he had once called friends, ganged up on him and attacked him and when they were finished, they were just going to leave him there to bleed to death. Even those who were just standing there to watch, were just going to walk away had not the professors found out in time, Harry might be a lot worse off than he is now.

It will be on your conscience if Harry does not make it, each and everyone who was there is directly involved because had you done something, then the circumstances might be different. So for now, hope and pray that Harry does pull through and you can have one less thing on your conscience to worry about."

When she finished speaking at least three-quarters of the students had burst out of the room in tears or with troubled expressions as they contemplated their role and how they might be able to repay the debt that was levied on them.

All of those who remained were those directly involved in the attack or in the planning of the deed, Hermione gave a small smile to herself, "How ironic it is that those directly involved are those who were closest to Harry, and those who he knew best."

"You all know Harry James Potter, he was your friend, the friend who gave out extra Defense lessons when the ones given by the school was not enough; he was the one who stood between the you and Voldemort on countless occasions; he was the one whom many go to advice and help on a variety of subjects; he is the one people turn to for something to believe in, in this time of turmoil; and he is the one symbol of hope for a life after Voldemort.

He trusted all of you as implicitly as though you were family, everyone here is familiar at least to some extent the matters he has to face each and every day of his life, yet after he was gone for a while and comes back he finds that the entire school has turned on him, and he now has no one to turn to for a friend."

A voice called out, "But Hermione, what about what he did to you before he left I mean ---"

"That's enough, that issue does not give anyone the right to interfere or meddle in something that is between Harry and me. True I was very upset at the time but that is no reason to beat him up and then just leave him there barely conscious. There is no nice way of saying this, just stop sticking your nose in my business that goes especially for you, Ronald Bilius Weasley. I do not want to see anything of this nature again coming from you; I know it was you who engineered this from the start, its one thing to be messing with someone from your own house but to involve the rest of the school in your feud with a fellow classmate that is downright horrible."

She leveled her patented death-glare at each of them, and everyone shivered from the coldness of her glare at them; each practically sighed in relief as the Gryffindor Common Room appeared before them. Ron lingered afterwards to ask her, "How did you know it was me?"

Glancing at him she said, "It was fairly simple to figure out, you were the only one out of the entire group who had some sort of direct brush-off from Harry, which had been engineered to enrage you, and had a plan which you had been nursing out of the resentment from the pain he caused you and in some sort of misguided loyalty to me and your other friends who had also received the brush-off."

Ron nodded to himself before he allowed a half-smile, "You always see right through me don't you Hermione?" Before he turned heel and walked toward his dorm deep in thought while the mark above his head lightened just imperceptibly.

Hermione continued to work on her homework until the last person had vacated the Common Room, and then she slipped her books back into her bag which was returned to her room with a small banishing charm. Glancing at the time she saw it was just past half past eleven, gathering her robes and her Head Girl badge she made her way outside silently, wincing when she heard the Portrait door practically slam shut.

Looking around she heard nothing so she walked quickly toward her destination, stopping everyone once in while to check to make sure there were no students out for after-curfew walks. Arriving at her destination, she glanced into the room and made her way inside, closing the door softly behind her; walking toward the third bed from the front on the right she stepped carefully around the curtain, before she stopped short at the sight before her.

The bed was empty, and its occupant was sitting in the windowsill staring outside, not even noticing her standing there looking at him; there was nothing she could do so she sat in the chair next to the bed and took out a parchment and a quill and began writing. A sort of companionable silence reigned though the figure at the window never glanced in her direction, but to Hermione this was the first step in getting their lives back in order, because once again Harry was in the Hospital Wing and she was once again staying near his side.


	7. Gray Area

A persistent nudging at her side finally roused Hermione, yawning she stretched and opened her eyes, but instead of the familiar white walls of the Hospital Wing she was in a place only adequately expressed as the Gray Area. She was surrounded by a murky gray cloud that blocked everything else out, however at random times there were images that slightly registered to her mind, but they just continually sped past.

Suddenly one image slowed and came to a stop in front of her and an all too familiar scene played out before her, despite her numerous attempts to forget it, short of oblivating the memory from her mind.

It was a few days into their seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and practically to no one's surprise Harry Potter and Hermione Granger had announced that they officially a couple. Throughout the following week it seemed as though many wagers were being settled throughout the students as well as the faculty, oftentimes handing over large amounts of gold to others.

To everyone's surprise even Professor Snape was in on the betting pool however he lost to a smug Professor McGonagall when the time came for the wagers to be paid, everything was going great; Harry and Hermione had a romance and love that many people envied throughout the school, it seemed that both were extremely happy with their current status though there were a couple of overzealous Potter fans chasing Harry around the school.

_Flashback memory_

But it all changed one bright Saturday morning, the first Hogsmeade visit of the year; Hermione was very busy with an extra credit project to fulfill the requirements in hopes of acquiring an internship with Professor Vector after graduation. So that left Harry to go by himself, though he wouldn't have minded staying with Hermione and spending an enjoyable afternoon in her company, Hermione chased him off saying she didn't want to be distracted by him.

When everyone trickled back from a free day, and headed off to dinner, Hermione joined them before she stopped about two hallways before it at the sight before her eyes, Harry, her boyfriend and best friend of about 6 and a half years, was making out with another girl in the shadows of one of statues. She walked up to them and calmly pulled the two of them apart, before she slapped the girl and Harry and informed him that they had broken up and that she never wanted to see him again and walked away toward the Head Girl dorms to cry her heart out.

However this time the scene didn't follow Hermione but rather focused in on Harry; he grabbed the girl's hand and walked away, past the crowd that had gathered to watch the scene, and now stared at him with accusing eyes, and entered an empty hallway. He mumbled a string of Latin words and the girl disappeared, then he warded the entire hallway with a privacy charm and it then and only then that he allowed himself to cry.

A figure walked toward him, through the privacy charm and knelt beside him and said, "Harry, it was the only way that you can go through this without wavering from your ultimate goal." Harry looked at him, "How is it Professor that if this is the only way to save the world, why do I feel dead on the inside because of what I did to her?" The figure answered, "It's for the greater good, and in order to achieve that you cannot have any distractions or show any weakness to Voldemort or your enemies. Harry stood up, eyes flashing, "I don't care about the greater good Professor, all I care about now is that fact that I have destroyed the one good thing I had going in my life and the fact that I may never get it back, right now you have before you a fighting machine, someone to send out to fight while everyone else gets to hide behind me." Harry gave a grim smile, "Well you got him." He stood up and wiped off his face, dusted off his clothes and waved off the charm. "I'll see you in your office tomorrow morning at 9 sharp, Professor Dumbledore."

_Memory ends_

The image faded away and left Hermione with an understanding of what happened with Harry and why there was a complete 180 turn in his feelings for her, as she contemplated her thoughts she noted a slight movement out of the corner of her eyes. She whipped around to face whoever or whatever it was, but whatever it was it had disappeared, however there was a package lying on the ground wrapped clumsily with a soft piece of cloth. There was some writing on one side of the package it read:

To Whom It May Concern:

I'm terribly sorry to whoever has received this package, for it means you are deep in the recesses of my mind. The only way out is to be able to figure out what the memories mean to you and to me. I cannot tell you who I am for that is one of the questions you have to figure out by yourself, but I have left someone there to help you out, in only selecting memories from which are known to you and me. Once again I am terribly sorry for having dragged you into this mess; please figure this out quickly for moment by moment I am fading away from reality and toward the next great adventure. Please hurry.

Unwrapping the package, three items fell out a pad, pencil, and a wooden stick; exclaiming with glee Hermione picked up the wooden stick and as always the rush of magic ran through her veins this was her wand. So gathering up the remnants of the package she grabbed the pad and pencil and turned back to the scene that was beginning to play out before her.

_Memory begins_

In the midst of the drama the students had just seen, three friends went off in search of Harry James Potter, former friend, who had promised to never hurt Hermione. One girl, Ginny Weasley went to Hermione's room to comfort her, one boy, Neville Longbottom went off to recruit search parties to search for Harry, and the last went off to search for retribution himself, Ron Weasley.

Ron looked through all the regular haunts that Harry inhabited when he wanted time alone, but to no avail apparently when he didn't want to be found he wasn't going to, that was his thought until he ran straight into Harry himself.

The two glanced at each other warily, before Ron rushed in a punched Harry in the jaw and then the nose before Harry was able to push him off, Ron stood glaring at him for a moment before yelling, "Potter I told you to take care of her for me and you go and do this to her, you have got some nerve, from now on I never want to speak to you again, and you and I were never and will never be friends."

Throughout it all Harry stood there taking the verbal and physical beating that Ron gave him and then walked away when he finished, though he carelessly said over his shoulder, "What's the matter Ron, I thought you would be happy that we broke up know you can go after her yourself, that's what you always wanted didn't you?" With that being said he turned down the hallway and disappeared. From the back it looked as though Harry really meant it, but one look at the front and the pained expression of his face told the whole story, the fact that Harry hadn't wanted to say it but necessity had made him do it.

_Memory ends_

Hermione sat on the floor as she contemplated all she had seen and heard; once again a figure darted in at the outer reaches of her eyes, thanking her lucky stars for having a competent Defense teacher this year, she stunned the figure with deadly accuracy from the practiced hand motion that Professor Alexander had taught them. Walking over to the figure she noted that it was a little boy about 7 or 8 years old and wearing slightly worn clothing.

She muttered _Enervate_ and the figure nearly jumped out of his skin, when he saw her staring back at him; he mumbled, "I'm sorry miss, I didn't mean to interrupt you and Mister said that I only had to help you figure things out. But I tripped and fell I didn't mean to interrupt you." Hermione raised a hand to his lips and said, "Shush, it's okay I just want to know who you are and what are you doing here, I'm not going to punish you." The boy nodded and said, "My name is Harry Potter and I am 7 years old, Mister put me here and said that when the time comes I need to do him a favor but before that time he gave me toys to play with, clothes, and other stuff."

Pulling away she looked at the boy and nodded to herself, it made sense in taking the boy she knew 6 years ago and comparing the two. She smiled at Harry and asked, "Well are you going to finish this movie for me?" The boy nodded and quickly ran off to start the next image, and then he ran back with a comfortable chair which he placed in front and then ran off again.

_Memory begins_

Walking through the hallways of Hogwarts had gotten dangerous for Harry, it seemed as though everyone was against him and oftentimes he would find himself tripped, thrown stuff at, or just beaten up. There were many times in the rest of the day that it happened again and again; when he went to the Hospital Wing he consistently lied to Mdm. Pomphrey, hiding out as much as he could he was somewhat relieved that he would leave and probably never see this place again, he wouldn't have to deal with the hateful looks, the fights, the bruises, and finally he wouldn't have to see Hermione to know how much he had destroyed her.

He thought to himself, it was better that she just forget him now, he could give her nothing of value or even the most basic assurance that he would be there with her to the end. Glancing at her over his Transfiguration book he mentally said, "Forget me and find someone else better who can give you what you deserve." Packing his books he headed to the Tower and placed everything inside and locked it. Changing his clothes he almost looked like a normal teenager, shrugging he threw his cloak around his shoulders and headed down the stairs off to see the Headmaster, surely he wouldn't mind that he came early to go about and do what he needed to do, Harry thought sarcastically.

_Memory ends_

Everything clicked and all of a sudden she was no longer in the Gray Area but once again in the familiar walls of the Hospital Wing, glancing around she noted that Harry was sprawled on the chair next to bed and at some point he had laid his head on the bed and was unconsciously holding her hand with both their fingers interlocked. Smiling she understood what happened and now to figure what was going on with Harry.


	8. Exchanging of words

After settling Harry on the bed where he could sleep comfortably, she headed back to her dorm to gather her things for the day; while her hands were busy her mind was working at a furious pace to digest everything that she had learned about Harry. She understood that somehow she was given the chance to see certain events from Harry's point of view, however just because she had some inside knowledge she didn't know the whole story.

Seeing as she was somewhat preoccupied she did not notice two professors getting their start on the day also head in the direction of the Hospital Wing; however one word jumped out from the conversation that snagged her attention out of the daze she was currently in. Two of the most unlikely people were conversing about one thing that they had never agreed upon, however it seemed as though the usual roles were indeed reversed.

S: Albus, enlighten me if perhaps this incident was part of your grand plan for your beloved savior

A: Severus, I had the best of intentions for everyone concerned, I had not thought that it would get so far out of hand

S: Snort Stop being naïve, and step down from the pedestal that people have put you on and try to understand things from our point of view and not the overview

A: What do you mean? I merely told Harry that in this war he cannot afford to have any distractions of easily accessible weakness for Voldemort to exploit

S: Indeed I know you said that, of course since I was there, but you have to understand the way things were from Harry's point of view

A: That is why I had to do what I did since it was his life in danger I thought it was imperative that nothing get through….

S: Stop spouting off the excuses that you give everyone else, do not forget I was a spy and am very skilled in reading everything from each and every angle

A: Alright tell me what did you see

S: Harry has for the entirety been without people who loved him for who he was, except for a select few, with the decisions that he had made in the past usually resulting in someone getting hurt because of that decision, he was indecisive as to what to do, so when you told him to free himself of distractions, he took your advice literally. He drove away the one person who could start a chain reaction to everyone hating him, but that was the one person he could not bear to give up, for he finally found someone who understood him and cared for him as a person. Yet through your decision he drove her away, the rest of his friends, and the rest of the school; at a very high personal cost. As cliché as this sounds he lost his other half, the person who only a select few ever get to find, their soul mate. Now as the entire school hated him, he didn't care whether or not he lived or died, so when you sent him off you sent your most dangerous weapon. There is a saying that fits here, "The most dangerous type of man is one who doesn't have anything to lose." Harry had nothing to lose that night you sent him to do the deed, he had lost the one thing he valued above all else, by his own means, he had no friends, everyone hated him, you treated him not as a person but as a weapon. And that's what he did, you the curse that is destroying him inside out was by his own means. He had specifically cast that particular curse because it was one of the only curses that basically wretched the receiver's soul and toss it in Hell, while the caster would slowly basically be poisoned to death, as a means of payment. You see the reason that we cannot heal Harry is because he doesn't want to be healed, because he feels since he killed someone this was adequate punishment, and it's besides the fact that he wants to die; there is no hold for him left here.

A: voice cracking I didn't know…..

S: Yes, you didn't know but do you think that come judgment on your actions do you think that would hold any weight considering the other intentions you had in mind?

A: silence

S: Do you see the repercussions of what you did that day, reverberating as far as to this current day, where Harry was put in danger like no other, in which had he died we would be short about a few houses worth of students? Even if they did not lift a finger against Harry, they did not lift a finger to help him either

A: I put everything down to the greater good, and I guess I was on a too-high pedestal to understand or see what was happening

S: He does not have long left, about a month of two; however I have brewed a potion to slow down the effects giving him effectively till his graduation and about a month of two into the summer

A: Then what are we waiting for; we should go give it to him now

S: Are you sure that would be a good idea?

A: Of course, I mean he would welcome a chance to have a life without Voldemort after him

S: You have forgotten what I have just told you, need I say again he has no reason for wanting to continue with his life, considering the fact that everyone hates him I don't think that helps very much

A: Pensively I see that it has been a while since I have seriously considered the decisions of others, do you have a suggestion

S: It is my opinion that since it concerns his life, he should be taken in on the decision, we should go and speak to him about this and let him decide

A: nods let us go then and he shall decide his fate

Hermione quickly rounded the corner and slid in a crevice behind the nearest statue, and waited for the professors to pass, as her mind quickly incorporated the information one part made no sense to her, why did Professor Snape vouch for Harry? However she did not have much time to contemplate this, for breakfast was starting soon and she needed to get herself ready for the day, as well as fix something to make sure she did not fall asleep in class today.

Shouldering her bag she headed for the kitchens to ask for a cup of coffee, while her mind mentally put together the puzzle that was Harry, and now she had more pieces to fit into it to try and get the whole picture.

Arriving at the Great Hall she noted that both Professor Dumbledore and Snape were in their usual seats acting as though there was nothing wrong in particular, though once in a while the professors would glare at the grouping of students with the black sign atop their heads. As more and more people arrive the noise level rose, until a slight clanking was heard coming from the Head Table.

Every eye turned toward the Table, and looked expectantly at Professor Dumbledore as he stood to address the entire student body:

Attention Students

Yesterday a grievous act was committed upon a fellow student, who lies in the Hospital Wing, for those of you who do not know as of yet what happened, I'm sure you will find out. As for those students who were directly involved or whom witnessed the attack, are being punished as we speak, the black sign above their heads is a daily reminder of what they did and what they will be continually be punished for while they remain in this school. There will be various punishments from various teachers; there will be no discriminating according to whatever your house is….

At this the doors opened, and the person in question limped inside apparently unaware that all the eyes of the Great Hall were on him, limping towards the edge of the Gryffindor table, he ignored all the glances and kept his gaze on the floor. That was until his crutches slipped and he took a dive to the floor, however one surprising person jumped up and hauled Harry to his feet. Leaning on him, Harry managed to make to his place at the Gryffindor table, turning around he said, "Thanks Malfoy" He merely nodded and said, "No problem Potter" and headed back toward his table.


	9. When does this end?

The weeks following the incident were fairly quiet, though there were some whispered mutterings that surrounded Harry whenever he got near the Gryffindor dorms speculating about the nature of the sudden Slytherin intervention. Harry shook his head and sighed inwardly each and every time eyes turned his way and stared accusingly in his direction, there was nothing he could do. But the upside of the incident was to make it clear to the entire school that Harry had the backing of the Slytherin house, should his "accident" happen again.

Harry had to continue with his medication and every so often he would find himself in the Hospital Wing after a particularly hard day, and he collapsed from the strain he exerted on himself. But otherwise he made sure to avoid the main hallways of the school during a majority of his time left at the school, once in a while he would catch a glimpse of Hermione surrounded by her friends but not really joining in, just there, and that worried him because now that he was at odds with her, there was no way for him to help her so for the time being he had to rely on time to make things better.

At the same time there was also the fact with the decision that had been presented to him about three weeks ago, about the situation concerning his life of death. As a symbolic link to his former life he took a page out of Hermione's book and made a list of pros and cons, which in the end hadn't helped since both lists evened out and neither gave an indication of what he should do.

For the time being he had to be patient and wait for his time to come when all his major decisions had to be made. Seeing as he had so much time to himself he was practically an expert at observing and staying hidden in shadows, which somehow felt comfortable after being in the spotlight for a majority of his short life. He also had taken pains to leave some reminder that he had been there, not a simple carving into the walls but something more meaningful that at the same time expressed everything he felt.

It was often the case that he would slip further and further away from reality as he constructed his masterpiece, for there were no limits in what he could do and to that extent magic had no real limit on him anymore, at least since what happened earlier. But to the outside observer, he didn't seem to be all there especially when it was nearing the time of completion of his project at least in his mental construction.

Surprisingly, in this case Harry found the most support in Luna Lovegood; he now understood what was going on her mind and why she often had a dazed and dreamy look on her face. It wasn't because she was mental but rather her mind was not fully focused on the present happenings but rather much more involved in what was going on in her mind, but she had warned him not to stay too long for each visit within his mind because it was really easy to fall into the abyss and never want to come back out.

Harry, properly warned and now completed in his mental architecture had to confront the task of actually forming the picture from his mind; this required assistance from some books he knew were in the Restricted Section of the library and with this he went straight to the top for permission, Professor Dumbledore.

Walking toward the gargoyle statute with a fair amount of trepidation, he stood outside trying to guess the password:

Ton-tongue toffees, Ice Mice, Sugar Quills, Jelly beans, Gummy bears, um…..Sour Patch kids, Blood Pops, Honeydukes, ……Lemon Drops?

Smacking himself on the head, Harry stepped inside the revolving staircase and with only a slight difficulty managed to get to Professor Dumbledore's office. Rapping on the door three times, he waited and immediately a voice said, "Enter"

Professor Dumbledore turned at the sight of the wizard before him and placed his quill down to devote his full attention to Harry. Smiling he offered him, "Lemon Drops?" Harry shook his head and politely declined. He started in on his reason for coming in the first place,

H: "Professor, I request permission to access the Restricted Section for a special project that I intend to complete."

A: "Do you mind me asking what kind of project this is and for which class?"

H: "This is my own special project for no particular class, but if you asked me what it is, I couldn't tell you, for I'm not sure myself"

A: "Well, Harry I have but one question, does this concern dark magic?"

H: "No, sir; In fact this project will help the school in some form

A: "I see, I do not see any reason to deny you access, however whatever you take from the section must be documented accurately in case of trouble from above"

H: Chuckles "Yes, sir; however I have one more request for you, would it be possible to withdraw from my classes, seeing as I know all the material because of the crash course in Auror training?"

A: "I understand that your classes are currently very boring for you, but what would you do with all that time?"

H: "I would like some time to complete my project before…I have to leave" Lowers eyes 

A: "As long as you have a specific plan you can show me at the end of each week, I do not find fault in your suggestion. However I think it would be beneficial for you to take your NEWTS early."

H: "Thank you sir"

A: "I will contact you time and place for your examinations."

This plan further isolated Harry from the rest of the school population, as previously he would only be seen during classes, and mealtimes. Now with his classes not a requirement, he rarely took part in mealtimes as he was often involved in finishing his project. This gave some positive connotations as well, since it got his mind off the impending decision with Professor Snape as well as the crisis his life seemed to be suffering at the moment.

As everything took shape, Harry still had no idea what it was that he was creating; but he found that it was good for him to exercise his magic and his brain, as well as obtain some exceptional views on magic from certain books. He sometimes thought to himself, while flipping through a particularly volatile book, "No wonder this book is here" Most of the time he ended back at his dorms at around two in the morning.

None of the teachers or Filch ever bothered him anymore about being this late; for they had learned that nothing, absolutely nothing affected him anymore. The only thing he really had left was his project, which he worked maniacally on, but other than that whatever happened to his physical self was of no concern to him. At first this rather unnerved the teachers when they encountered him with the blank and dead look in his eyes, but after a while they learned to disregard it.

Then one day, nearing the Christmas holidays Harry was finally finished and as he stared at his masterpiece before him, he finally understood why he had not been able to describe it to anyone, this was the kind of thing that you needed to see, and one glance told the entire story; while it took more words than the English language had in order to describe it. So wrapping it up, Harry placed it in a safe place till his departure from his beloved school and for the first time in a long time when to join his fellow classmates in their last Hogsmeade weekend before the Christmas holidays.

Wrapping himself in some winter clothing, Harry headed toward the crowd gathering in the Entrance Hall, awaiting the arrival of the carriages. Ignoring the whispers around him Harry stood off to the side and glanced outward toward the grounds for the arrival of the carriages. Alighting onto an empty carriage, to his surprise he was joined by Draco, Blaise, Crabbe, and Goyle. Nodding pleasantly to them, Harry turned to glance at the rushing scenery around them, when he was pulled from his musings by a light tap on his shoulder.

Harry turned with an inquiring expression at his seatmate which was Draco; the five glanced at each other before Blaise sighed and said, "Bugger this; this wasn't the way things were supposed to go." Everyone laughed at the expletive coming from Blaise's mouth, before the actual conversation started.

D: Well I guess what we wanted to say was thank you for ending everything and not force us to make choices that we didn't want to make

B: Yea, I mean even if my family was neutral, if this had continued we would have had to choose and that wouldn't have gone well

G: Thanks, I mean without you, we would have become Death Eaters….

C: …And grovel after that egotistical, insane subhuman

All shudder 

H: Shrugs I mean I had to there was no way I would continue to allow innocents to be slaughtered in this idiotic war that Tommy-boy started

B: But I have one question, is it true that he was a half-blood?

H: Yup, on the mother's side he was the Slytherin heir, but on the father's side he was the most Muggle that anyone could be

C: I thought that was just a rumor started for the heck of it

G: I heard it from some fellow Death Eater's children

H: You know I always thought that Crabbe and Goyle were thick, dimwits but here you are speaking rather intelligently

D: That is partly my doing, our fathers' have impressed on our minds that we would eventually stand in their positions, so we decided that since I was more apt in manipulation I would be leader and Crabbe and Goyle would be my thugs

Chuckles 

H: How about you Blaise?

B: Well, I come from a powerful neutral Slytherin family and we are highly coveted on both sides; so my family had impressed on me that I would have to remain neutral, which meant being enigmatic and not letting anyone get too close, but while this plan worked it was awfully lonely and had it not been for Draco I would have cracked

D: So…..Harry what are you going to do now?

H: Bitter laugh well I need to get away from here, as my life has fallen apart at the seams and everything I have known for my entire life will soon be gone, so what's the point of making any plans

B: Well you know you can hang with us, or do you not want to be seen hanging out with the Death Eater spawn Slytherins?

H: You know I was very close to becoming a Slytherin as well, had it not been for pompous Draco here from making me think everyone was like that

B: Really? Draco this is your entire fault, if you hadn't been such an ass then we would have had Potter at our mercy earlier

D: Well…………

All laugh 

H: Now if you don't mind I need to get a letter off, then I will meet you guys at the Three Broomsticks, save me a butterbeer

D, B, C, &G: All right see you later

In a much happier mood than seen in weeks, Harry whistled as he walked to the post office, he was even feeling optimistic about his life. Sending off a special letter for 2.5 galleons, Harry was almost telling himself that his life wasn't really that bad till he caught sight of the one person he had been unconsciously avoiding.

Harry had always been able to pinpoint Hermione's location by instinct which had used to be a useful trait especially when they had to run for their lives and often those few seconds probably saved him several hundred brain cells. But nowadays this only served to remind him of the huge sacrifice, just short of his life that he had made to keep her safe at the expense of his will to live when she wouldn't give him the time of day anymore.

No longer was she there to make sure that he was alright but also no one there just to talk to him, when he was feeling confused about the state of his life as he was right now. Now that he couldn't be there with her, he began to see the things that he had taken advantage of when she had been there for him. Like the way she always knew him better than he knew himself and often times just being there as a confidant to unburden himself.

At this very moment, a strange pain wrapped around his heart as he watched her laugh at a joke that Seamus had told. The sky started to spin, as the pressure around his heart tightened and spread to his entire body. His body was fighting not to collapse, as he staggered over to a nearby bench, his breath came in pants, and the steam seemed almost continuous. But throughout it all he couldn't take his eyes off the scene taking place before his eyes.

Hermione was looking as pretty as ever, with her new robes bought especially as an early Christmas present for herself. Her neck was graced by a slightly familiar necklace, which Harry recognized with a start, it was the last present he ever gave her, and just randomly one day when he saw it; he bought it for her just to spoil her and to proclaim to the world that she was his. Her hair was hanging down her back, though some curls were clipped to the side of her head. But what hurt the most was the fact that she was fully there and had gotten over the hurt, pain, and the love she had for him.

It wasn't until she had finally disappeared into Honeydukes with the gaggle of Gryffindors that he even realized his surroundings. Cursing he rushed over to the Three Broomsticks and looked around for the pack of Slytherins. He found them all sitting near the window and sat down to join them, nodding in greeting before raising the pint at them in cheers. For a while he could forget what he had just seen, but as luck would have it, which should walk in but the people he had just run from.

Apparently, fate wasn't on his side that day, for they sat about two tables away from them and in direct view of Harry. In a way the slow torture of remembering the many times they had sat together just being together was worse than facing Voldemort. But Harry didn't know the real meaning of pain, not until he finally was able to observe totally and completely return of the former Hermione in all her glory. As he watched her joke and talk with her friends the tight feeling in his chest returned and in that moment he decided what he was going to do.

Turning to the Slytherins that were watching him closely, and alternating with glances at the Gryffindor table, he tried to smile but almost failed completely. In a shaky voice he said he had some stuff to do back at school and had to go, but thanks for everything. Draco reached out and said, "I'm sorry Harry" Harry nodded and in a cracking voice he said, 'Well you can't have everything you want in life."

Harry got up and staggered toward the exit, but when passing the Gryffindor's table a voice called out, "So, Potter hanging out with Death Eater spawn now are we?" Harry turned and glared straight at Seamus who had voiced the comment, "It's better than the company that you keep, at least they help you up rather than knock you down." A gasp from the side, made him turn toward Hermione. She experienced the full power of his gaze, the blank, dead look lurking in the midst of what used to be able to show any emotion; and turning around Harry managed to walk out the door with his dignity intact no matter that the entire pub had gone silent to listen in on his conversation.

Striding back to the castle, he knew exactly what he had to do. He also knew that Professor Dumbledore had, had everything planned out in case this should happen. Arriving at the Headmaster's office, the statute was open already as though waiting for him. Professor


	10. Bombshell

"Professor Dumbledore, I would like for you to ask Professor Snape to join us in our conversation please" Harry leaned heavily on his cane before a conjured chair appeared at his knees, nodding his thanks he sat down with a sigh of relief.

Albus clapped his hands together and summoned a house elf, "Tillie, please ask Prof. Snape to join me in my office immediately." The house elf bowed and popped away.

In the meantime, after a short rest Harry was hard at work tracing different runes in the air before him and forming random shapes that seemed to give off sparks of light and began to knit together and form a spell. With this eyes focused on the spectacle before him, Harry did not realize that the Headmaster and his portraits were staring at the extraordinary young man before them. Finally the spell was finished and Harry tied it together with a long chain of magic and with a bright flash, it disappeared and left a cloth-covered bundle floating in the air.

Prof. Snape arrived and with a soft knock was admitted into the room and sat down on a comfortable couch. With a single gesture, Albus locked and sealed the room away from prying eyes. When all the necessary precautions were finished both men looked at Harry with undisguised curiosity. "Harry, why have you arranged this meeting with the both of us?" asked Albus, breaking the silence that permeated the room.

Harry glanced upward into the eyes of the Headmaster, who barely managed to stifle a gasp at the blank, dead gaze of his pupil. With a wave of his hand he lifted the white cloth off the object to reveal a strange contraption.

As both men stared at the contraption, Harry gestured once again and it came to life. "Potter, what is that thing?" questioned Snape.

In a raspy voice, of one not used to speaking often in a while Harry began to explain. "This is my project, the one that I've been working on for the past few months. In essence this is my contribution to the school which I have always considered as my home."

"Potter, get to the point. I have no time for your vague explanations---."

He smiled an indulgent smile and continued with his explanation. "Hogwarts is in itself extremely old with the structure of the castle handed through the generations to preserve the practice of magic. The Founders created this school in order to protect the existence and allow for the flourishing of intellectual curiosity to further this field. This castle stands for the greatest and mightiest stronghold for light magic throughout Britain. And it is this task that the Headmaster and the Professors undertake as they gather their magic to reinforce the wards. However, this renewal sometimes does allow for holes and cracks to enable leaks."

"My project will be utilized in such a way that no longer will the Headmaster and the Professors bear the full brunt of the renewal. It will allow for the students, house-elves, portraits, and all other magical items to lend their power to fuel the wards. Every bit of magic that is used in this castle will be captured by this device, refined and used to fill all the weakening spots in the wards. In turn this will ensure that not one person has to hold onto the wards, as this device will be able to ground and center the wards into itself."

Harry smirked at the mirror looks of shock and confusion from the two before him. He was happy that he would be able to give back to the school, which had given him so much. Counting down in his head he waited, "5…4…3…2…1…"

"How did you manage to create something like this? You have never been able to study up on warding before, especially Hogwarts' wards," Albus sputtered out once he managed to get over his shock at what the device could do.

Snape shook his head, once again Albus does not realize that the boy sitting before him is the no longer the naïve Gryffindor that he can manipulate and shape to his heart's content. Before them sat a calculating, cunning man who is able and willing to do anything and everything to protect the things and people he loves and cares for.

"Congratulations, Po-Harry I didn't think anyone would be able to combine so many different fields of magic together and formulate something that would be so useful in fixing human error. I must thank you for saving me and other professors about a week of magical exhaustion each summer when we renew the wards."

Snape bowed his head in deference to him and sat back to watch what Albus would do now. He was sure that his last talk with him had gotten through to him, but apparently he still saw Harry as someone to be protected and secured despite his own wishes.

"Harry, how did you manage to create you project? I was not aware that you had studied to such great details the wards of Hogwarts."

Harry shook his head, "Headmaster, there are many things that you do not know about me and despite your many attempts on the contrary you are not all-knowing as you make yourself out to be. I just found some old books in the Restricted Section and built on it from there. Besides what else is there for me to do I mean the entire school hates me. It's not like I have friends to hang out with or girlfriends to go out with."

Prof. Dumbledore flinched at the last slightly bitter statement from the boy before him. He knew he deserved it but it didn't make it any easier knowing that he had willingly destroyed the boy's life and forced him to do an adult's job. Leaving him without any sort of hold on the world at large and just waiting to die to leave the pain and suffering of the world in the hands of those who did not care.

Shaking his head slightly, he glanced at Severus and saw a spark of admiration for someone he proclaimed to hate on first sight because of his resemblance to a hated enemy. Harry had done with this contraption what years of talks could not, finally separate Harry with his father.

"This is quite remarkable Harry, at least now I know you weren't in the library slacking off without anything of great importance to do. This device will help us immensely in filling the holes that we were unable to catch or fill in time. However, I am curious as to why you requested that Professor Snape be here for the discussion."

Without a word Harry placed a well-worn piece of parchment on the table before him and sat back in his chair with a smirk.

At first glance it seemed to be a midlevel potion that any person could do, however, upon further consideration the ingredients and instructions became more and more complex until each of the calculations were to be so exact that even something that was a millimeter off could mean the ruination of the potion. On the flip side of the parchment there was yet another potion with extremely complex ingredients and instructions. However, this drew a gasp from Severus as he stared at the potion and glancing at Harry he would have fallen had it not been that he was sitting.

"Harry??? Why---?" Snape sat staring at the boy before him and could not understand how he was sitting there so nonchalant about the whole thing. He never would have expected to find it necessary to brew this potion once again, not since the days of his potion mastery had he been required to brew it and had at the time hoped never to have to again.

Albus shook him slightly, "Severus, what has gotten you all upset? What is this potion?" With wide eyes, he whispered, "Albus, this is the Death Potion."

Snatching the parchment from unresisting fingers, Albus glanced down the list before summoning a leather-bound book from the bookcases. Quickly flipping through it he found his quarry before letting go of the book and staring at the boy before him. "Harry…why?" was all the esteemed Headmaster could manage in the shock of the revelation.

The figure before them rose and started pacing leaving his cane within easy reach. "It's quite simple professors, I am going to die either tomorrow or next week or whenever. I know that it is going to be sometime soon. Even with the help of Professor Snape's potion I will still be forced to undergo extreme agony. Therefore, Headmaster since you inclined to make all my decisions for me. Here is another one for you to make, would you rather I die upon ingesting the Death potion or the Exchange potion?"

Snape glanced up at the name of the second potion, "Po-Harry, you do know that the Exchange potion exacts a heavy penalty in exchange for your wish to be granted?"

Harry smirked once again, "Of course I know that is why I am willing to sacrifice my memories of the wizarding world in order to retain my sanity from the never-ending pain and torture that is my daily life. There is nothing keeping me here anyways, so what is the point of holding on. I would rather be no one of importance in the Muggle world than be considered a traitor here. This would work very nicely with your plans won't it Headmaster. These are my terms and I expect a decision in two days."

Retrieving his things quickly he walked toward the doorway when he felt a familiar stabbing sensation, cursing he felt his robes for the specific potion to alleviate the pain. All he felt were glass shards, with a grim smile he knew that once again his former friends had something to do with the destruction.

Without the potion to counteract the pain he bore the full brunt of the pain and could barely hold in the scream as white-hot pain tore through his body. When he could bear it no longer a scream managed to tear itself out of his body along with the blood that had accumulated in his mouth. He was barely aware of the fact that Prof. Snape had lifted him gently and running out the door toward the Hospital Wing. Leaving the Headmaster staring after them and glancing at the well-worn piece of parchment before him.

Severus stared at the boy he held in his arms and noted with some pity that one so young had lost his innocence in this senseless crime that was war. He took in the rigid posture and clenched mouth and was reminded of victims under the Cruciatus curse. Finally, he noted that the boy had fallen into unconsciousness but his body was still shuddering from its aftereffects.

He had been so wrapped up in the boy that he barely noticed that in order to reach the Hospital Wing he would have to pass through the Entrance Hall as well. As luck would have it, this was when all the students were arriving back from Hogsmeade. The students seeing the professor hurriedly formed a path for his to run through.

No one recognized who was the figure in his arms until accidentally the hood fell off and the hair as well as the burnt-red scar was clearly visible to all the students. A gasp resounded around the hall when blood was seen to be dripping from the figure's mouth and one girl broke away from her friends and chased after the receding professor.

"Poppy!!! Where the hell are you?! Get out here right now!!! I have a matter of the direst need," Severus yelled out as soon as he was within earshot of the Hospital Wing. A frantic Mdm. Pomphrey ran towards the two and hurriedly turned down the covers for one of the beds before casting stasis and diagnostic charms over the boy. Snape settled off to the side as he slowly regained his breath.

"Severus, go to my back cupboard and retrieve Type III Healing Potions, Type IV muscle relaxant, Type II sleeping potion, Type VIII pain reliever, and bring the rest of the vials that are sitting next to the cauldron that have a stopper on top. We need to mend him quickly or else he'll go right now."

As soon as Snape brought the potions over to the Mediwitch, he took a step backwards and sat down on the next bed. Mdm. Pomphrey cast spell after spell to ensure that he wouldn't worsen then poured potion after potion down the boy's throat. After achieving some success she set up monitors that linked the boy's state of health in order to alert her of any changes.

In the meantime she had done all she could, when she turned to tell the Professor the news, she smiled when she saw that he had fallen asleep on the bed. She decided not to disturb him and let him sleep when she turned back to the bed she saw a figure standing in the shadows near the bed. Nodding slightly she gestured once toward the boy and walked toward her office.

The figure slowly approached the bed and sat down on the visitor's chair beside it. Taking Harry's hand she held it before stroking his hair and settling down with a book from her immense bag. It would be awhile before he woke up from unconsciousness this time around. Before long without intentionally falling asleep she dozed off with her hand still clutching his and her book dropping quietly from her lap.

This was the scene the Professor gazed upon when he awoke from his unplanned slumber and was struck by how much the two fit together, as cliché as it may sound it was true. These two had achieved what few people have found, their soul mates through life and love. Silently he cursed Albus for destroying something that was so right and so pure just for his "greater good." He felt there was simply no explanation why it would be good to leave this behind. In times of war every bit of hope was to be cherished not destroyed and dimmed, especially when it was about a boy that was good and righteous and with whom the fate of the world rested on his shoulders.


	11. The line is drawn

As the sun rose the next morning when it's rays reached across the silent room the slumbering form arose and gently carried another figure toward the bed. After ensuring that she was comfortable he reached for his things and quickly walked away not daring to turn around. He could not afford to hold her affection and attachment with him, not when he had such a tenuous hold on the world to begin with.

Limping toward Gryffindor Tower he hoped that he would not have to meet anyone along the way. At the entrance of the portrait hole he clutched his bag of potions tightly and stood a little straighter, there was no point to showing these traitors that there was anything wrong with him.

Muttering the password under his breath the portrait door swung open and he walked in, straight into a Common Room where everyone was glaring with hatred at him. Keeping his back straight he walked toward the boy's staircase with barely any trace of his limp, he would not show weakness before these people.

Suddenly the staircase was blocked by several boys of varying years, a look of contempt and malice on their faces. "You are not welcome here, Potter," spat a voice from behind him. Turning slowly he faced the reddening face of his former friend, Ronald Weasley. "Really, Weasley I was under the impression that as a Gryffindor I was allowed access into my own dorm."

A smirk appeared across his face at hearing those words, "Well, Potter wasn't it you yourself who told me that the Sorting Hat wanted to place you in Slytherin? Well we as a house have decided that we do not want any traitors or backstabbers in our house. According to Hogwarts, A History, if ¾ of a particular house agrees they can petition for a student to be resorted out of their house. And we have the petition right here, all that was missing was you." Glancing around Harry saw the identical smirking faces of his housemates. "And if I were to refuse?" he replied mockingly.

There seemed to be a hidden signal as he was suddenly attacked on all sides, at first he was holding on his own, considering the fact that he did defeat Voldemort himself. Then someone grabbed his bag of potions and another punched him on the back of the head. Soon he felt blood start to leak out of the his corner of mouth, nose, and ears. Feeling woozy from the loss of blood he reached outward with his magic and with one final thrust threw everyone as far away as possible from him.

Getting up shakily he took a deep a breath as possible and limped upwards to his room once there he shoved everything that was left nto his trunk. Once he was certain that he had everything, even the things stolen from him, he shrunk his trunk and placed it in his pocket and held his wand in ready position in case some idiot thought he could try to attack him.

As he walked down the stairs everyone glared at him but no one made a move, terrified that he would lash at them again. That was until Weasley saw the Invisibility Cloak draped over his arm and the Map in the other hand. "Potter, where do you think your going with those things? They're mine!" A grim laugh choked outward, "Are you kidding me Weasley? These things belong to me, given to me by my father."

Weasley's face turned bright red, whether it be from being shown up or just outright anger Harry never knew, because he caught the punch being thrown in his face. He shoved the Map and the Cloak into his messenger bag and slung it over his shoulder and secured it to his side. Feeling the comforting pressure of his wand that slipped from his holster he blocked off sensation of pain, even though he knew he would pay for it later.

A roar of rage was the only signal of an attack and with a grace honed from hours of practice as well as battle, spun out of the way. Turning quickly he grabbed his arm and spun him off to the side before yanking him to his feet and punching him twice in the face then once in the stomach before knocking him face down and placing a body bind on him. "Anyone else who wants to see how they fare against me?" No one spoke, all were too busy staring at Ronald, and no one stood in his way as he walked out. At the entrance he glanced back once and spit on the ground before walking away.

Walking aimlessly to his utmost surprise he found himself in front of the Headmaster's door, shrugging he headed up the stairs to hear the raised voices within. Upon hearing his name he stepped in and sat down in one of the comfortable looking chairs to wait out his argument.

"Albus, you need to give the boy the chance to make his own decisions. Already he does not trust you do you want to sully yourself to such extreme measures to ensure that you will always have control of your precious weapon," snarled Snape.

"I agree for the longest time you have forbidden us to go against your decisions regarding the poor boy and now, even now you condone his own housemates to attack him and barely do anything in direct punishment," yelled McGonagall.

"It is now time for us, those of us who made a promise to Lily and James to help the boy and not hurt him, to finally be able to live up to our promise," said Flitwick.

"We will finally be able to look at Harry Potter in the eye having finally been able to fulfill our duties without you interfering, you OLD COOT!" screamed Madam Pompfrey.

Albus finally looked up and watching the glaring faces of his staff he realized he could never stand up to all of them at once. Glancing around once he acquiesced it was time for him to give up his quest for the greater good if it hurt an innocent boy who's only crime was to be born in the middle of this. Picking up a quill he hurriedly scrawled a note and called for Fawkes, "Can you please request that Mr. Potter come to my office immediately?" With a trill he vanished leaving the professors contemplative.

"Professors, I thank you for finally arguing my case before the Headmaster in an attempt for him to hear what I have been saying for years," a voice from the shadows started forward. "I sincerely hope my parents were able to see just how effective all of you were in helping me.

The boy in question came out of the shadows still dressed in his traveling robes with a lone messenger bag loped across his shoulders. Carefully taking off his robes he lay them across the chair and slowly unbuttoned his school shirt, when it finally dropped away he waved his hand and the illusion was dispelled.

A gasp of shock rang throughout the office as each wound was exhibited in the bright light of day. Grasping in his bag he took out a small vial of potion and took it in its entirety in a single swig before tossing it back in the bag.

"This is the result, the result of all that went wrong with allowing the Headmaster dictate my life. In allowing him to control me and everything I did led to the desperate attempt to kill myself to find myself among people who actually love me. Not among these traitors and manipulators who merely want me to do their dirty work, like our dear old Headmaster here. Due to his "kindness" I can very easily sever my attachment to earth. What do I have left? Family? No, Friends? Yea right, Girlfriend? perhaps in my dreams. And this is all due to my dear Headmaster," said Harry in a weary tone.

With each accusation each professor looked from Harry to the Headmaster before glancing at each other. This was wrong, in a world without Voldemort, Harry should be happy and be able to do the things that he missed out on when he was busy fighting for his life. What they had before them was something completely different. This forced each and every single person to wonder that perhaps it was not the fault of their accepted way of life that shaped the young man in front of them into someone so bitter and jaded but by their own inactions in the face of the status quo; unbelieving that there would ever be help for him from anyone other than himself.

"Before you begin to start thinking up ways to convince me to change my mind, I have already decided. In these last few weeks I have realized that I will never be able to function normally within these halls once again. I have changed too much and the students here despise me, so as part of my effort to promote "house unity" I will leave on my own volition to prevent the school from collapsing inward for its hatred to me. I have nothing left here anyways and with the way my life is going the world is not going to mourn me anyways. All I came here to do was to say goodbye, as I have been kicked out of the Gryffindor House I do not want to have to deal with being kicked out of Hogwarts. I wish to receive my diploma early and leave before you are forced to take drastic measures," said Harry calmly as though he had not just cut his last ties to Hogwarts.

Albus got up and reached out to him, "My boy--"

To everyone's extreme surprise Severus reached out and brushed his hand away, "Albus, give up, it's over. God knows how you will be able to face Lily and Potter when you reach your "next great adventure."

Minerva came to her senses and carefully and deliberately bandaged Harry up, buttoned up his shirt, and draped his traveling robes around him before loping the bag around his shoulders. Reaching into her pockets she grabbed a small package already tied up and ready to go and handed it to him, "I want you to have this, but don't open it till you leave here. This is my way of an apology." She stepped back after smoothing down his hair and brushing a soft kiss on his forehead.

Flitwick carefully pulled him into a fatherly hug and dropped another small package in his other hand and patted his arm twice. Giving him a small smile he merely wished him the best of luck.

Pompfrey walked over slowly and with a slow whisk of her wand ensured that the bandages were secured and tightly sealed. With a whispered incantation a small parcel appeared which she pressed into his hand. Slowly brushing over his hair she kissed his forehead once as well before releasing him.

Severus walked over and held out his hand and slowly helped him rise to his feet. Taking his wand out his conjured a sturdy cane that would help him keep his balance. Reaching into the folds of his robes he grabbed two potion vials and with them a slip of paper which he handed over along with the other packages.

"Dobby, come to the Headmaster's office." With a small pop the excitable elf appeared, "Yes, Professor Snape?" Turning toward him he said, "Dobby, Harry Potter wishes to leave school however in his current condition I do not trust that he will be able to make it, will you bind yourself to him and take care of him?" The elf solemnly waved his hand around Harry and himself before a bright light flashed, "It is done Professor Snape."

Turning to Harry he asked, "Master Potter, Dobby be taking yours things to your home?" Harry nodded before whispering a location in the elf's ear. Taking a look around Dobby popped away taking with him all of Harry's things. Severus turned and remarked, "You did good Potter, even if you are a Gryffindor."

Harry looked towards the Headmaster who had not said a word in the proceedings. He said, "So Headmaster, any last words before yet another failure walks out your door?" When nothing came in reply, he turned towards McGonagall, "Professor when you receive my diploma for me please call for Dobby because it seems as though the Headmaster is still unwilling to acknowledge the fact that he has completely and utterly screwed up and ruined my life. Thank you."

With that last cutting remark he grabbed to cane leaning against the chair and with one final nod towards each professor he limped slowly out the door, his goal the apparition point by the Forbidden Forest.

"Albus! How could you?" screamed McGonagall when the door closed behind the boy. "How dare you let that boy leave here and not give him his diploma? I—I don't even want to know your reasoning anymore. Don't speak to me about anything other than school related matters I do not wish to speak to you." She streamed out of the room quickly to watch her student make his last trip out of Hogwarts.

Flitwick and Pompfrey merely shook their heads and followed McGonagall out the door, their faces conveying their disappointment in the Headmaster having failed yet another student.

Severus turned and spoke, "Albus, I've always thought you were an honorable and noble man. But what you just did I can no longer look at you in the same light anymore. Even I who hated his father could find someway to help him, but you would deny him his right to his diploma. I no longer can stomach your reasoning's and logic anymore. There is nothing you can say or do that will make me see the man I thought you were."

It was here finally that Albus finally understood the full consequences of what he had done. He had gotten so caught up in the greater good that he had forgotten that he was not all-powerful and all knowing. He had forgotten the promise he had made to himself when he had defeated Grindewald and even when with much apprehension has seen Tom Riddle walk out of the confining walls of Hogwarts. He had forgotten that he promised his dying wife that he would always protect those that could not protect themselves.

He had failed two young boys who had turned to him for help, too caught up with his own clout and power that he had forgotten those who slipped through the cracks. He lay down his head and for the first time in a long time he cried.


	12. Secrets Are Revealed

The students of Hogwarts could tell something was wrong; something had changed in the past couple of days. In fact, ever since Potter left, Gryffindor house bore the brunt of the professors' ire. Instead of Slytherin House This time it wasn't only from Professor Snape, it was from all the professors including Sprout and Flitwick, whom normally never took points from the Gryffindor House. It seemed as though another house would win the House Cup for the first time since Harry Potter entered through the doors of Hogwarts.

Another thing that had changed, were the attitudes of the staff towards the Headmaster; they were all cold and barely respectful on those rare occasions he decided to venture from his office, which as of late has been rare indeed. The Gryffindors led by Ron Weasley had assumed things would get better once Potter left, when all it seemed to do was push everything further off course; but everyone assumed it was only a matter of time before things went back to normal.

Only one person in Gryffindor disliked the change that had come over her housemates, she had initially appreciated the show of solidarity as they had stood by her in the face of scandal. He had been painted as the villain in this particular play and herself the angel; and it wasn't until she had time to think about the situation and of course seen the damage that she started to question the situation. In the face of the professors' ire against her house and the disappearance of the one person that could possibly hold the key to these questions she had nowhere to turn, until one day on her rounds late at night she overheard two professors speaking in hushed tones around the corner of the hallway she had been patrolling.

"Has Albus relented and sent him his diploma as of yet?" asked the familiar voice of Professor McGonagall.

"Albus has always been incredibly stubborn, but I didn't think he would refuse to honor the wishes of a dying student. I spoke with Dobby when he came back to fetch the new batch of potions last time and he told me he wasn't doing well, at this rate it could be days and not weeks anymore," replied the crisp voice of Professor Snape.

"Does she know that he left? questioned McGonagall.

"Damned girl barely has any idea the sacrifices he made for her. This entire school has no idea what he sacrificed for them. That damned house of yours is walking around with that same smug grin that they managed to get rid of him led that that brat Weasley," sneered Snape.

"Severus, he didn't want her to know to put that burden on her…" started McGonagall.

"That's a lie and you know it Minerva, Albus pushed that boy to drive her away and destroy everything good in his life to leave him with nothing," yelled Snape.

Hermione held her hand in front of her mouth as she began to understand all the puzzle pieces that had been before her and she had ignored them because she thought she was the wronged party here. She failed to see the signs when they were staring her in the face the whole time.

"Severus, there's nothing we can do for him now. He refuses our help, he's said he just wants to leave this world and be at peace with the people he truly loves and truly loves him. He said this is all worth it if she's happy and safe, even if she's not with him. I've tried to convince him he needs to tell her before he goes and he refuses to listen to me," replied McGonagall.

Snape heaved a great sigh, "I know, I've had the same conversation with him as well. I thanked him, thanked him for saving the lives and sanity of myself and every single member of Slytherin House who would've otherwise been lost to that madman."

McGonagall nodded, "I understand Severus, I wish my lions would understand that they helped destroy our savior, that in kicking him out of Gryffindor House was his last link to normalcy. He lost his parents, his friends, his soul mate and now his home, it's only a matter of time..."

"I just wish there was something we could do for him, before he goes. I treated him like he was his father for so many years and it's ironic that I've come to realize that he's not his father just too late, I couldn't even live up to my promise to Lily to protect her son," whispered Snape.

"It's not your fault, none of us knew how bad it really was", answered McGonagall.

Hermione knew they were talking about him, Harry, and she realized in the midst of this year she had failed him. The one person she had sworn to always protect and most importantly, she had let herself fail him so horribly there was no way to come back from this. Then the professors' words rang a bell in her head, Harry was dying, he might even die before she had a chance to apologize and tell him she loved him.

"I wish there was something we could've do, still can do…." began Snape, when a patronus appeared.

_Severus! I need your help come to the Infirmary right now. Find Minerva if you can. Dobby is here and he says it's bad!_

With that the patronus vanished into thin air, but the professors had already begun running towards the Infirmary closely followed by Hermione. Perhaps there might be something she could still do to make things right, there was always a chance things could change for the better right? The three runners ran through empty hallways quickly startling ghosts, portraits and prefects alike, none were too concerned about the exclamations of shock they heard in their wake all were fully committed to getting to the Hospital Wing in time, in time for what, none knew just that they had to run.

At the entrance of the Hospital Wing, Madam Pompfrey was waiting, wringing her hands. When she saw the two professors she tried to smile at their breathlessness and their slightly reddened faces before giving up entirely and waving them into the darkened wing. None noticed the Head Girl tiptoeing her way in behind them before the door locked behind the small group.

Inside they saw the tiny house elf Dobby, sitting in the chair rocking slowly back and forth, he did not seem to realize that he was crying softly with big, fat tears rolling down his face. When he saw the professors arrive he jumped out of the chair and bowed low to them before hurriedly speaking,

"Professors Snape and McGonagall! I is happy you are here finally. Master Harry is very sick and won't wake! I tried everything, even emergency potions! Master Harry will not wake, he barely moves, barely breathes. But he will cry out in pain and screams her name. Dobby does not know what to do, which is why Dobby is here for help."

Both Professors looked at each other with frightened eyes, they knew what was happening. This had been the moment they had been dreading for quite some time. The end was coming for Harry James Potter and there was nothing they could do about it, he had refused their treatments and nothing could be done of the slow poisoning of his body so each part of his body turns off one by one before killing the victim. This of course was further compounded by the curses laid into him by Voldemort that had refused to heal properly and broke open again and again.

"Dobby, bring your Master here we can help him," ordered Madam Pompfrey.

Dobby looked undecided, "Dobby had strict orders to never bring Master to Hogwarts. Master said Hogwarts holds bad memories for him. Dobby cannot do something like that to Master Harry."

Snape bent down so he was eye level with Dobby, "Dobby, Harry understands that you will do just about anything to help him get better. But sometimes he can be just slightly too stubborn for his own good. In this case, bring Potter to Hogwarts may well be the only thing we can do to get him better."

Dobby nodded, "Dobby understands, and Dobby would punish himself later if Master Harry had not strictly forbidden Dobby to do so. Dobby will bring Master here in a moment."

He snapped his fingers and vanished from sight. As soon as he was gone, Madam Pompfrey began to bustle around the Hospital Wing grabbing potion vials from hidden compartments around the room. Professor Snape took out a worn piece of parchment, fingering it and nodding thoughtfully before walking briskly towards the back where there were 2 standard size cauldrons with bubbling potions in the process. Professor McGonagall was hurriedly transfiguring a comfortable work area and larger bed for their incoming patient. And hidden in the corner, Hermione was kneeling in shock at everything that had just happened. A sense of expectancy permeated throughout the Hospital Wing until a loud pop echoed through the mostly empty wing and a patient now appeared in the large bed McGonagall had transfigured.

The sight of him was awful, his lacerations were bleeding profusely, the tremors in his hand were literal shakes that shook his entire body, his scar was oozing blood and his was so pale and still Hermione thought he was already gone. She couldn't contain the scream that left her mouth when she saw him, Professor McGonagall looked in her direction and glanced ad Professor Snape who remarked hurriedly, "Miss Granger, you may step out of the shadows and see the results of your handiwork," before he turned back to the patient. McGonagall could barely spare a glance at her student before going back to stopping the bleeding.

She felt a gentle hand slowly guide her over to a seat and looked up to see Madam Pompfrey with her arms laden with potions, "Sit my dear, you need to process all this and you look like you want to faint," she walked briskly over to him and started pouring potion after potion down his throat, while applying some to the still oozing wounds throughout his body. This lasted for over 2 hours and the 3 adults worked tirelessly to stabilize the young man lying in the bed motionless.

She started when she McGonagall address her again, "Miss Granger, why did you follow us to the Hospital Wing?"

"I…I heard you and Professor Snape talking in the hallway a while ago when I was on rounds and put the pieces together and finally understood everything," replied Hermione.

"Everything? Are you sure you understood your role in all this?" asked McGonagall.

"Yes, Harry broke up with me initially to keep my safe at the order of Professor Dumbledore, he was then ostracized by the entire school essentially because he broke my heart. Professor Dumbledore sent him off against the death eaters thinking this would turn out fine, but he came back gravely injured to the point of no recovery by magical means. When he came back the entire school, especially Gryffindor House attacked him and threw him out and made him feel as though he had nothing left to live for and left the school. Though Dobby went with him and has been attempting and for the most part succeeding in keeping him alive until tonight when it seemed like everything was going wrong and he would…" she couldn't finish that sentence, even thinking of the possibility was too hard.

"Miss Granger you were always an excellent student, however in this case I can only award you and Exceeds Expectations, since you are missing one crucial detail," began Professor McGonagall.

Hermione looked up questioningly at her, trying to figure out exactly what it was she had forgotten. Running through the story she was quite puzzled and she was sure her face betrayed her confusion, as these were the puzzle pieces as gathered in her fact finding missions throughout the year.

"Mr. Potter didn't get sent to fight Death Eaters, he was sent to fight Voldemort and what's more? He won, we've been keeping it secret for the year because he did not want anyone to know and idolize him. All his injuries were laid into him with a dark ancient curse that refuses to heal properly and those tremors? That's the result of the slow poisoning of his body as the sacrifice required to banish Voldemort forever," said Professor McGonagall.

As she let the words sink in, Hermione had tears rolling down her face. Harry had done it, he'd killed him at the expense of his life and what did he have to come back to? None other than the ridicule and torment of his fellow housemates and the incessant pain of a thousand curses that refused to heal. She slowly walked up to the bed and barely bit back a sob when Harry flinched with pain as a tremor racked his body, she grabbed his hand as she had always done in times of fear and distress, knelt down and started to sob hysterically.

The love of her life was dying in front of her eyes and there was nothing neither she nor anyone could do about it. With her eyes streaming with tears she felt someone pull her up, they were planning on pulling her away from Harry, she fought against the restraining hand before being shushed and assured they just were trying to make her more comfortable and no one would take her away from Harry. She cried and cried until there were no more tears left. When she looked around the adults had left and had erected a privacy screen around them and she realized someone had draped a light blanket over her, so holding onto Harry's hand she slowly drifted off into a restless sleep.

It was a haze when she woke up, she was still sitting in the Hospital Wing but it seemed brighter somehow. Her hand was still clasped in Harry's but this time the grip wasn't lax when he was unconscious but firm and strong as it had been before he left. Glancing up she saw his dancing eyes smiling at her as he slowly stroked her hair from his prone position.

"Harry! You're okay! I'm so sorry, I wish I had seen what you were doing, I would've never allowed you to pull away like you did. How many times have I told you I'm not leaving you? I love you and that's all you prat!" yelled Hermione quickly.

"Hermione," he began with slightly dimmed eyes, "I love you so much and Voldemort knew that. He would've stopped at nothing to hurt you and if you had been hurt I would've gone crazy. Nothing in this world means as much to me as you do. If you were gone, so would I, your Harry would be gone and the world means nothing to me without you in it. You have to know that, love."

"Harry, you have to know that life, my life at least begins and ends with you. These past couple of months have been awful without you, not being able to see you, touch you and just to be with you. A world in which Hermione is without Harry is so bleak and dark that it isn't worth living," answered Hermione as she crawled into the bed next to him.

He stroked her hair as she nestled into his arms, "Hermione, love we're not really here. I'm dying and I just wanted to make sure you were okay before I go…" began Harry.

'NO! Harry, you can't leave me!" screamed Hermione, "You can't leave me alone here, and didn't you hear me? Life without you is meaningless to me. I can't, I won't go on without you.

"Hermione, you have to. My parents and Sirius are calling me. Those who have passed on already are calling for me to come join them, and I'm in so much pain that I need to go," answered Harry.

"I won't let you go!" said Hermione, "if you go, so will I and that's final. There's got to be another way for us to be together, if not in this life then in another, I refuse to live without you here."

Harry chuckled, "My darling girl, I love you so much but the only thing we could do is to leave magic behind and I couldn't ask you to do that with me."

Hermione sat up instantly, "Harry, don't you understand? Magic is when we are together, I don't care about anything else, and I'll give it all up if I have a chance for a life with you. At least with you I know we'll be happy and content even without magic and the wizarding world."

He looked thoughtful, "Are you positive about this? Snape did tell me about the Exchange potion that would trade my pain for my memories of the wizarding world. Initially I told him I didn't want it because I had nothing to live for. But somehow looking into your face I know I want a life with you. I can't bear to think that you'd give up everything to leave this world with me. I'll stay with you and we'll share our lives together even without magic, and it's like you said, together we are magic. I'll tell Snape that I want the Exchange potion but he has to make it so that the both of us remember each other."

"Harry, nothing can make us forget each other. And I know about the Exchange potion, I will exchange my memories of the wizarding world for a happy life with you. Considering the fact that we're muggles raised it shouldn't be difficult to get back in the groove of things," answered Hermione.

Harry smiled down at her, "I'll tell Snape when we wake up again. We don't have too much time left in here."

Hermione smiled, "Then kiss me one more time and make it happen lover boy."

Harry leaned down to kiss her one last time and the dream slowly faded into their combined memories until all that remained was a little speck of light and even that faded into black before vanishing completely. A slow shudder ran through Harry as he opened his eyes to stare at the familiar sight of the Hospital Wing's ceiling and the anxious faces of Madam Pompfrey, Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall. Reaching for Hermione he didn't feel her hand, but before he could say anything,

"Miss Granger is perfectly fine, she's sleeping on the bed next to yours. She's completely worn out after spending 3 nights here without sleeping," remarked Professor McGonagall picking up on his anxiety.

Nodding his thanks as best he could through the pain, he glanced at Professor Snape and said, "Have you finished brewing the Exchange Potion as of yet for me? I would like to take it and so would Hermione."

Snape nodded as McGonagall gasped, "Miss Granger wants to Exchange?"

A soft voice came from the next bed, "Professor, I wouldn't be able to live without Harry, I just know that I should be with him and that's more important than being able to do magic. We are and have always been a good team."

Snape nodded once again, "I had thought things would come to this point, so I had taken the liberty of brewing 2 doses, it's effectiveness is only for the next 6 hours and everything has been prepared for your reentry into the muggle world. I hope to speak with you once more before you immersed yourself, would it be all right if Professor McGonagall and I come visit once the two of you are settled? Just so that we can be certain that you are happy and healthy."

Harry nodded, "Professor, I'd like nothing more for you and Professor McGonagall to be able to come and visit. Of course you might have to wait till our memories settle into their "correct patterns."

McGonagall smiled, somewhat tearily, "I'm sorry to be loosing my 2 favorite students, but I'm happy that you two will be happy. Harry, I believe your parents would be so proud of the man you've become and Hermione, your parents would be so proud if they understood the true nature of what you're doing. While Harry saved our world, you saved our savior. There's nothing we can and would do to stop you from making this choice."

Madam Pompfrey bustled over and gave them a set of 3 potions and said, "Take these before taking the Exchange Potion, which will give time for Severus to alter the different dynamics of the potion and create the effect you wanted," giving them a pat on their shoulder she turned away slowly but not before they saw her wipe a tear from her face with the edge of her crisp white uniform.

Grabbing the 3 potions, they grabbed the others hand and quickly downed all 3 before glancing expectantly at Snape who waved his wand over each vial that hung in the air in front of him. Runes were scribbled in the air above each vial that seemed to make some sense to Hermione who tried to follow before getting dizzy and glancing back at Harry who had leaned back and was taking shallow breaths. After an indeterminate amount of time, Snape finally holstered his wand and grabbed the 2 hanging vials from the air in front of him and walked towards the 2 students who had sat up in their beds.

"Professor McGonagall and I will be administering the Potion to the both of you, now don't fight the effects and let everything go," said Snape, "I hope you have a wonderful life together, much better than anything that the wizarding world could've given you."

Waving one of the vials towards McGonagall he leaned down over Harry and lowered the bedframe so it was in the supine position, "Lean back and close your eyes, you won't feel anything other than a sense of drowsiness and then letting go."

As he followed his instructions he poured the potion slowly at a measured pace into his mouth so he wouldn't choke and watch as a purple haze brushed through he slightly opened eyes and was finally convinced he had brewed everything properly, when he glanced over at Minerva he saw her do the same. Suddenly, he felt Harry grab his arm as he fought to stay awake,

"Professor…" he began.

"Harry, don't fight the potion," said Snape.

"I know, I'm not fighting it. I just wanted to tell you thank you for everything you've done for Hermione and I over the years. We have appreciated all the help keeping us alive. I just wanted to be sure you knew that before we left," said Harry.

"You're welcome, Harry and thank you for giving all of us a second chance to help," said Snape but Harry was already gone the purple haze completely obscuring everything.

With a sigh, he nodded at Minerva and each grabbing a body apparated out of Hogwarts through a hidden back door entrance Snape had formed just after Harry brought back news that Voldemort had been defeated. With a slight pop both professors with their precious cargo left to a prearranged staging area, where the two most famous students Hogwarts ever had would begin their lives anew. Suddenly, the doors to the Hospital Wing flew open and Albus rushed in,

"Where is he? Where's Harry?!" he yelled.

Madam Pompfrey merely shook her head, "Headmaster, you're too late Harry is gone."


End file.
